(indieWIRE/01.17.01) — ALWAYSi, a leading online film company, will soon beadding a box office to their website, under the title “Unlimited Cinema,”and sharing the profits with filmmakers. Yesterday, ALWAYSi announced theintroduction of a $4.99 a month subscription service (the first month isfree) that will feature films, movie matching, an nline film festival andother exclusive offerings.

While internet video-on-demand subscription models are predicted to be thefuture of online entertainment is ALWAYSi one of the first to put the theoryinto practice. RealNetworks also offers a premium pay service featuressoftware as well as film.

During Sundance ALWAYSi is setting up shop to answer questions and offersneak previews of “Unlimited Cinema” at the Microsoft Booth in the DigitalLodge at Harry O’s (427 Main Street). [Maud Kersnowski]

>>Considering Film in New York City: The Producers Perspective

(indieWIRE/01.17.01) — Last Thursday evening, New York Women in Film andTelevision (NYWIFT) held their annual panel discussion with industryprofessionals, “Taking Stock of NY Feature Production companies in New York,’the second installment of a series called “Film in the City.” Founded in1978, NYWIFT is a nonprofit organization with over 1,000 members dedicatedto the advancement of women in the industry and to promoting equity in thefield through educational programs, special events and networking. The panelincluded John Penotti, (“Illuminata“) partner and president of GreeneStreet Films, Scott Macaulay of Forensic Films (“julien donkey-boy“), John Hart of Hart-Sharp Entertainment (“You Can Count on Me“), and Shooting Gallery‘s CEO Larry Meistrich. Open City Films‘ co-president Joana Vicente (“Chuck and Buck“) and moderator Cynthia Griffin, the only women on the panel, sat at each end of the surprisingly all-male table.

Has nothing changed in the New Millennium? Perhaps not a lot: producers arestill hustling for investors and independent filmmaking economics still —in Larry Meistrich‘s words — “sucks.” What remains remarkable is thediversity and richness of backgrounds, styles and approaches to producingdisplayed by each company, even within the confines of New York’s — againquoting Meistrich — “incestuous” film community, where everyone doesbusiness and co-productions with everyone else.

Topics ranged from the specific challenges of working in New York, fromoffice space to labor costs, and how to retain creative autonomy as a smallindependent company, to the difficulty in finding exciting new material anddigital filmmaking as an aesthetic, rather than a financial choice.

Addressing a recent topic of filmmaking in New York, Broadway-turned-indieproducer John Hart discussed the increased cross-pollination between thetheatre and film worlds, citing Sam Mendes and Stephen Daldry as examples of theater directors who successfully made the transition to film. It wasthrough his connection with the theater that Hart and his partner Jeff Sharpfirst saw Kenneth Lonergan‘s play “This is Our Youth” in a small theatre on42nd street and acquired the rights for the film. “It was our intention forthat to be the first movie Kenny was going to do for us,” says Hart. “But itwent on to have a greater stage success and with that a theatricalhold-back, meaning that we couldn’t shoot the film until first classterritories played out. So Kenny came and gave us ‘You Can Count on Me.'”

Speaking of his own transition from commercial theater (“Annie Get YourGun“) into film, which started with Todd Haynes‘ “Safe,” Hart said, “Theconcessions that unions give you in film that they never have given us intheater make it economically viable — although admittedly tough business.More importantly you get to work with writers and directors who are doingthings that are exciting rather than safe — which is what the Broadwayenvironment dictates.”

The dictates of the distribution business, on the other hand, were widelycovered by Larry Meistrich who discussed the details of Shooting Gallery’swidely successful Film series. “We saw all these good films over the yearsthat didn’t get bought, ” says Meistrich. But when Shooting Gallerypartnered with sponsors who paid for the films’ marketing and with the Loewstheater chain that provided the screens for a two week run on each of theselected 12 films, “Lo and behold! There is a desire to see these films!”says Meistrich. “Every one of the twelve films played past the two week-run.Five of them made the top five this year. There is a market for them!”

Not surprisingly when Hart, who will be at Sundance this year with “Lift,”asked Meistrich whether Shooting Gallery (recently bought by Itemus) wouldbe buying films this year, Larry Meistrich nodded and said confidently,“We’re buying.” On the subject of Sundance strategies Meistrich once againwent over the nuts and bolts: “If you have a film and you think it’s good,don’t let a soul see it until you premiere it at the top five festivals inthe world: Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, London.”

Scott Macaulay added these sobering words, “The secret of success is tomanage the aftermath of Sundance. Out of fifty films there are maybe twobidding wars. Take a look at a great film this year: “George Washington.” Itdidn’t get into Sundance. It went to Berlin and built a small buzz there. Itwas rejected from New Directors/New Films. It continued building until itgot into the New York Film Festival.” Moral of the story: there’s no single,correct approach to success in the diverse world of independent film.[Anna Basoli]